2
A Short Portrait of the Man Biography: Alois Fürstner (1962) studied chemistry at the Technical University of Graz, Austria, where he got his Ph.D. in 1987 (Prof. H. Weidmann). After postdoctoral studies with the late Prof. W. Oppolzer in Geneva, he finished his Habilitation in Graz (1992) before joining the Max-Planck- Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim, Germany, in 1993 as a group leader. Since 1998, he is Director at that Institute and is also affiliated with the University of Dortmund. His research interests focus on organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis, with particular emphasis on the application of catalytic tools to the synthesis of bioactive target molecules. Awards: In recognition of his accomplishments, he has received several awards, including the Leibniz award of the German Science Foundation (1999), the Thieme-IUPAC prize (2000), an Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award of the ACS (2002), the Otto-Bayer-Prize (2006), and the Janssen Pharmaceutica Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis (2008).

6
6 Mechanism proposed: Propagating iron species still elusive! Is it a Fe 0, Fe I species or a “super-ate” complexes of Fe II. Smith, R.S. M. Kochi, J. J. Org. Chem, 1975, 41, An Overview of Some Pioneering Work

39
39 Conclusion  Iron catalyzed cross coupling can efficiently couple Csp2– Csp3 centers using catalysts that are non-toxic and of low cost.  Grignard reagents that are prone to β-H elimination are believed to pass through a Fe -II/ Fe 0 catalytic cycle.  Grignard reagents that cannot undergo β-H elimination are believed to occur via organoferrate species.  For other work in this field see Nakamura & Cossy.